Paco Rabanne

Paco Rabanne was born Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo in 1934 in Pasaia, in the Basque country of Spain. His mother, a head seamstress at Balenciaga, fled the Spanish Civil War with her son for France in 1939. Spanish at heart and French by adoption, Francisco Rabaneda would now be known as Paco Rabanne.

Anti-conformist by nature, Paco Rabanne was quick to make his mark on the fashion world.

After studying architecture at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, an experience that kept him forever part of the art world, he turned, in the early 60s, to creating costume jewellery for the great couture houses of the day - Balenciaga, Nina Ricci, Maggy Rouff, Philippe Venet, Pierre Cardin, Courreges, Givenchy.

In 1966, he showed his first collection, a provocative manifesto titled "12 Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials", the dresses embellished with rhodoid sequins and plaques. Clothes suddenly became an artistic expression of their time.

Courting scandal and plaudits, Paco Rabanne never mellowed in his mission to question the process of thinking and showing fashion, pre-empting the conceptual turn that designers would take as the 21st century neared.

Starting 1969, Paco Rabanne would also revolutionize the perfume industry, rewriting all the established codes with his own line. Calandre, his first fragrance for women, was followed by Paco Rabanne pour Homme and a host of other international successes, the most recent being the Black XS and Million scents (1 Million in 2008 and Lady Million in 2010).

With one-off handmade pieces, pioneering the recycling of materials, event clothing, and ephemeral items, throughout his career Paco Rabanne revelled in experimenting with revolutionary projects and adapting materials for his own uses: hammered metal, knitted fur, aluminium jersey, dresses made from paper or fluorescent leather or fibre glass, to mention just a few of the more emblematic examples.

In 1971, he was recognized as a couturier by his peers when he became a member of the storied Chambre Syndicale de la Couture.

In 1999, after more than thirty years of internationally acclaimed creativity, Paco Rabanne announced his retirement from the world of fashion. In 2010 he was decorated an Officer of the Legion d'Honneur by the French culture minister, a timely acknowledgement of his work as a visionary designer and innovation originator in the world of fashion.

Paco Rabanne: 1 Million and Lady Million perfumes, Black XS Fragrances, and ready to wear fashion and accessories.

Website: www.pacorabanne.com

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